Posted by Luke Hung in Captains Quarters

Posted by Captain Briony of Krios (Commanding Officer) in Captains Quarters

Posted by Luke Hung in Captains Quarters
Posted by… suppressed (4) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Rinker enjoyed the warmth of the bed. Despite the fact that Star-Bases were climate controlled, beds were somehow invitingly warm. He rolled his head to the right forcing open his mouth. “I’m going to have to leave.” He said without preamble. “I checked with the Atlantis yesterday, they can’t let me extend my vacation. They are heading out of the sector in four days, I’ll need all that time to catch up with them in that Rinky Dink runabout.”

Rinker

Briony opened her dark eyes to see his face in the dim light of her quarters. She sighed and closed them tight again. Of course she had known that this day would come, far sooner of course than she wanted. Still, it didn’t make it any easier to hear him say it. He could have said it on the Promenade, or during dinner, or anytime really. It wouldn’t have made a difference to her in any case. Her heart felt heavy, but she answered him with sarcasm. “You mean I can’t abscond with you forever while your career goes down the toilet because you AWOLed out? Gosh, how will I ever manage.”

Rinker chuckled for a moment, “Well, in theory I could be a psychiatrist almost anywhere. I am almost as good as I think I am. On the other hand desertion still is 20 years in high security penal colony… so that almost defeats the purpose of going AWOL in the first place.”

Finally she opened her eyes and moved to wrap her lithe limbs around him. “I am trying really hard to feel happy we have had as much time as we have had, but I am afraid at this moment, its feeling a bit overshadowed. What would you recommend counselor, to combat this feeling?”
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Briony, CO

“Short term, I can prescribe another dose of Doctor Feelgood, but to combat this long term.” His smile was replaced with a sadder face. “We could body time on the holodeck while our positions are close enough for instantaneous communication. But I know the Athena is going further away.... not closer… it might work for a couple of weeks.” He turned and hitched her slightly so she was somewhat on his lap. She was indeed lighter than he remembered her. Which was near unbelievable since her normal weight was already what he considered light.

She allowed herself to be moved wherever he wished to place her. In time, she would gain back her muscle and her body would realize it had ready access to nutrients again. Still, she had never been one to gain significant amounts of weight. Her discipline for eating and exercising were too ingrained at this point. Briony had been a well honed machine before she left the Atlantis on Star Fleet Intelligence’s secret mission. She was less so after getting out of that situation, being debriefed and being assigned to the Magellan. (For those just tuning in, this was only a few weeks after her arrival on base).

A couple of weeks were better than none, but it was only a bandaid. Eventually she would have to let him go do his work and rely on communications as they came. Long distance relationships were difficult as most anyone in Star Fleet would know.

“I don’t know what I would done, if I hadn’t found you.”

Rinker

“I’m not a fool Briony, proximity is a faction in relationships. The further we get, and the longer it is,” He shook his head… “The harder it is.”

She touched her forehead to his and closed her eyes tightly, hearing so much emotion in his voice. She felt the sting of tears gather under her closed lids. “I couldn’t allow myself to think about you, about us, while I was gone.” Her voice cracked. “They would have used you against me if I even hinted at something back home keeping my attention, but I hated myself for every moment, feeling like I betrayed you.” And there it was, the reason she had not called him after she finally was debriefed and able to. She had not wanted to face that betrayal.

Briony, CO

“We do what we must to survive, I’d never hold that against you.” He looked at her, “You hold it against yourself.” Rinker sometimes was too much a therapist even for himself. “You think words are the same as thoughts, which are the same as deeds. I’m not Jesus and you aren’t Judas, you didn’t deny me thrice and even if you did all it was was words. At a time where words might be more dangerous than phasers.”

“All you ever have to do is come back to me.” He looked at her.

rinker

She wanted to ask who Jesus and Judas were since neither name felt familiar to her. She had to smile at the fact that he was being so very human and so very much a counselor. Briony lifted her lips to his to kiss him sweetly before looking him in the eyes. She couldn’t promise that she would come back to him over and over again. She couldn’t promise what she could not control. Star Fleet might send her off someday on another dangerous assignment or something could happen here on the base that would get her killed. It was the life they led, this uncertainty… perhaps it was the trade-off to the service that fulfilled them both. Safety was never guaranteed. “As long as it is within my power to do so… I will.”

Briony, CO

“Well I certainly don’t want you to do things outside your power.” Rinker smirked. Briony conditioned her promise because she didn’t want to lie, well it was nice to know that she worried that much about her word to him.

Rinker pulled away and went back to his packing, “If I finish up quick, We still will have a three hour window for a good bye.”

Rinker

SHe flashed a grin, watching him pack away his things, trying not to think about the end being so soon. When she had first come on board the Atlantis, she had been young enough and hurt enough in love that she had chosen to remain single despite having had plenty of options. As Captain, her options had been limited. Somehow, the counselor had cracked through and she couldn’t be happier about it. Their life together had been and would always be complicated, but their communication was excellent and they worked it out well. They worked together to come to understanding. So few relationships really did that.

“Well, the sooner you get packed… the sooner I can show you exactly what is within my power.” Briony wiggled her brows and laughed.

Briony, CO